Reviews

Four and a half stars for prose. Ko's writing is evocative and sometimes beautiful, after a rough beginning. Not sure what was happening with the sudden leveling in tone after the first quarter or so, but something real happens, as if she finds her stride to write her characters. And five stars for characterization. Both Daniel and Polly or Deming and Pei Lan, whichever set of them you'd like to choose, is so precisely, realistically human and awful I can't help but be impressed. The story is direct and only occasionally wavers when Ko tries to describe what must be Daniel's synesthesia (she never says or references it other than in describing Daniel's lived experience, but that's certainly how it comes across).

Meanwhile, the narrator for the audio book was less than ideal. If your main character is a young man, perhaps choosing an actor that can do mens' voices would have worked best.

bookish_matcha's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

navarerica's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

jaclyncrupi's review against another edition

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2.0

I am one of the very few people who could not get into this novel. Deming is abandoned by his mother at the age of 11 and the book is told from both their points of view and flicks backwards and forwards in time, explaining what happened and exploring the trauma of the separation and Deming's cross-cultural adoption. But it handles these changes of viewpoint and slips in time very poorly. I couldn't grab hold of the narrative or its characters. The subject matter is certainly important but I was unimpressed with the execution sadly. I really wanted to love this book as much as everyone else - after all Barbara Kingsolver is involved!

sophg82's review against another edition

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3.0

"Maybe it wasn't about moving to new places, but about the challenge of staying put."

This book was a LOT, in every sense of the word. Emotionally, plot-wise, etc.
I'm conflicted because it was quite long and dense and honestly dragged for me a bit (I found that the last 100 pages really picked up for me, but it took weeks to get through the first couple thirds). At the same time, there were so many compelling characters and plot threads that I felt like didn't get the proper amount of time devoted to them. (Angel--such a compelling character! Wanted more of her!!!). So...not sure if I wanted more added to this book, or for it to be significantly cut down, but I do know it felt incredibly dense.

This was a very beautiful story! It hit me in the heart! I also differ from a few reviewers here because I actually really felt invested in and related to Deming's present-day story, maybe because I'm also an early-twentysomething freaking out about my path in life. Aren't we all. Deming and I handle things very differently (watching him fuck up, over and over, stressed me out a lot) but the things he felt were very real and relatable and well-articulated.

A pet peeve I had with this writing style is something things wouldn't be revealed right away or would be left ambiguous as a stylistic choice, but it just ended up being a bit confusing? I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to know or assume and just felt like I had missed something. Maybe this is my bad or maybe it's the point, but it did detract from my enjoyment of the book regardless.

jltusc's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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